The Slumber of Ghosts
by Katfosel
Summary: One day, Maka wakes up in the library thinking she just fell asleep overnight... when in reality it's been twenty years since the scythe meister has walked the halls of the DWMA. What changes have happened while she's been gone? -no pairings-
1. The First Day: Awakening

**Yay! School's almost over and I'm HAPPY~!**

**And yet here I am with another depressing fanfic. What is the world coming to? *shakes hands dramatically at sky***

**This takes place sometime after 'The Death Scythes Convene - Stop Dad's Staff Reassignment?'  
**

**Anyways. Go listen to 'A Thousand Years' by Christina Perri. It kinda set the mood for most of this. ^.^  
**

* * *

The Slumber of Ghosts  
Chapter One

* * *

Maka yawned and sat up, gazing blearily at the small pile of dusty books beside her. _I must have fallen asleep doing research again... at least Soul is used to it, so he won't be worried. Although I bet he's missing having something other than burnt fish for breakfast._

Stretching, the sleepy meister stood up and shuffled into the hall. _It's almost seven forty. I should get to class. _With a start, she looked up to yell for Ox - he was always pacing this part of the school before class - and realized... she knew none of the students around her. She spun frantically. _That girl looks like she could be Jasmine's younger sister! But that's impossible... Isabella's only two months. She's more like twenty-five._

A little spooked, she fast-walked to Class Crescent Moon and poked her head inside the door, to find some creepy lady that looked like Marie's mother (if her mother was even alive) teaching the class, staring at her in shock. Maka scanned the rows of seats with wide eyes. _No BlackStar, no Tsubaki, no Soul, no Kid, no Thompsons, no Killik, no Kim, or Ox even! _She ran out, ignoring the cries of the old Marie-like lady.

Quickly making it to the Death Room door, she poised her fist to knock when she realized the door was completely different. "Did they remodel during the night?" she muttered to her self.

"... Maka?"

Maka whirled around and gaped. "P-Papa?" But it couldn't be Papa. Spirit didn't have... GRAY HAIR? "Why is your hair-"

"MY MAKA!" He crushed her into a tight hug, sobbing freely. "YOU'RE BACK!"

She wriggled and said indignantly, "I never went anywhere!"

That made the Death Scythe relinquish his hold, taking a good look at his daughter. "Ah, of course you wouldn't remember. But look at you! Amazing, you haven't changed a bit." He hugged her again. "That's the strong little Maka I remember. You'll need your strength." Maka found herself too shocked to Chop him as he pulled back again and knocked on the door, hollering, "LORD DEATH! MAKA'S BACK, THE CURSE WORE OFF!"

"Curse?" Maka asked frantically.

With a _bang_ the door flew open and an icy breeze washed out to meet them. Maka shivered and rubbed her arms, then her jaw dropped as Spirit pushed her in and shut the door. _The sky is... cloudy? Like overcast cloudy. What in the hell happened?_

She walked cautiously down the pathway, glancing nervously at the guillotines that all of a sudden seemed to give off an ominous air. "Hello?" she called.

Emerging out of the hallway (it was longer than she thought), she recognized the spiky black shape of Lord Death. "Sir?" she asked tentatively, then gasped and stumbled back as the shape turned around.

Lord Death was his normal self - but for just a second Maka swore she saw his appearance flicker back to his Dark Days look. She gulped.

"So you've returned." It wasn't a question, just a statement, but the voice that said it was scarier than anything one could see - it was the high-pitched jolly tone she was used to, but with a strange icy undercurrent that spoke of deep resentment. _What have I done to make him so angry?_

"Returned from where?" was the only thing she could think of to say.

He sighed and turned to face his mirror again. "You were reading in the library one evening when a witch that had gotten through our defenses disguised as an animal snuck up behind you and trapped you inside a book. A few meisters came running, along with your father, but the witch just laughed and said 'She won't come back 'till after it's too late' and disappeared in a puff of smoke. It's been twenty years since anyone last saw you."

"Twenty... years?" she whispered, sinking to her knees. "No... I was researching madness wavelengths... the Kishin!" Her head shot up again. "What- is he- the world- madness-"

Lord Death sighed again. "Dead."

Maka was stunned into silence. "... Dead? I _missed _it?"

"Yes." His tone was icy again. "You missed _a lot._"

"How much?" The meister was a little apprehensive to hear the answer. "Soul... BlackStar, Tsubaki, Kid, Liz, Patty... what about-...?"

The reaper's aura seemed to pulse with anger. "Go see them. I'm sure they'll welcome you. They told me to send you when you were released, and I will not deny my son and his friends no matter how much I disagree."

Maka brightened considerably. _At least they're alive! Maybe they'll be a little older, but they're alive... and I hope, at least, they haven't forgotten me. No, they wouldn't. They did say to send me. Right?_

Lord Death wiped a hand across the blank mirror's surface, making it fog up strangely. "Step through." Shooting him a puzzled glance, she complied and pushed her hand through the surface, then stepped all the way through.

Coughing, she blinked away the sudden plague of fog and squinted at her surroundings. A grassy hill rose before her, a tree at the top. Sighing, she looked up, narrowing her eyes against the bright sunlight and gasped involuntarily at something she saw. _It couldn't be._ Sprinting up the hill, she stumbled and fell to her knees. _Oh no. _A single tear spilled down her face. "No... no no no no no _no no..._"

Sitting in front of her, nestled neatly in the rustling grass, were six neat gravestones in a perfect circle.

Her legs moved unconsciously, shuffling her knees into the middle. Eyes blurry with tears, Maka choked on a sob and just barely made out the writing on the one she was facing, reading it quickly and spinning - still on her knees - in a circle.

_Tsubaki Nataksukasa_  
_Dark Arm Weapon to BlackStar  
Gentle, kind, and smart even in her last moments._

_BlackStar  
Only known survivor of the Star Clan  
Meister to Tsubaki Nataksukasa  
In the end, he beat the God that mattered.  
_

_Patricia Thompson  
Demon Pistol Weapon to Death the Kid  
Spirited and a fun-loving friend.  
_

_Elizabeth Thompson  
Demon Pistol Weapon to Death the Kid  
Cunning sister and forever a good friend._

Her eyes blurred and the sobbing meister had to wipe her eyes, spinning so fast she completely skipped a few stones and came face to face with one she never thought she'd have to see.

_Soul Eater Evans  
Demon Scythe Weapon to the Late Maka Albarn  
Loyal partner and friend, even without a meister._

Late? Why...? The grief became overwhelming, but she sucked in a breath and held it as she turned 180 degrees to read the one she'd missed. The last one.

_Death the Kid  
Meister to the Thompson Sisters  
Son of Lord Death  
A Grim Reaper who fought until the end.  
[There was a request from him in his dying moments to add this message:_

_Hey Maka!  
I know you'll be reading this, one day. Sorry you missed the big battle. Everyone's dead but me now. I've got messages for you: Soul says your chest is still tiny, but he misses you. Died with your name on his lips. BlackStar may say he hated your guts, but he wishes you'd come back as much as the rest of us. Liz misses someone to test all her new fashion prototypes on. Patty says she loaned you a stuffed giraffe, but she doesn't mind that you keep it now. Tsubaki just smiled and held BlackStar's hand as she died.  
Me? Well, looks like I've got about thirty seconds, but I miss you too. We could have used your help.  
Not that I'm blaming you. It wasn't your fault.  
We just wanted to say goodbye ourselves.  
Who knows? Maybe we still will.  
But for now, know...  
A group of seven doesn't seem so bad anymore.  
Symmetrically yours,  
Death the Kid_

There was no holding back now. Tears flowed freely down her face as she hugged Kid's gravestone tightly, the salty drops landing on the words carved onto the black obsidian, her hands tearing up clumps of grass. _No... no... no... this isn't happening..._

_"You know, I still don't blame you. I'm glad you're back."_

Maka's eyes opened impossibly wide. That voice. Looking to the side, she gasped as she saw black flip flops... following up to the black cargo shorts... the neat white dress shirt... to his face.

"K-... Kid?" she whispered hoarsely, still crying. But it couldn't be him. Kid was dead. And this... ghost? Yes, ghost, for he seemed to be see through to some degree, wasn't wearing the suit and tie and everything she was used to. But it was _him. _Just... beach attire.

Then the ghost smiled, and it was his smile, that gentle small smirk she was so used to seeing. _"Yep."_ His voice was echoey and strange, but it was his voice. It was _Kid._

"I thought you were dead!" she cried, hiccuping like there was no tomorrow and curling her legs up tighter against her chest, leaning against his gravestone and sobbing. "This message... you, everybody, you're all dead! Please tell me this is a nightmare and I'll wake up!" She pinched herself. Nothing.

_"I'm sorry. It's not a nightmare. But it really is me - we may be dead, but we're not gone."_

Maka looked up, blotchy cheeks and all, emerald eyes watery and hopeful. "We?"

He laughed. _"Leave it to you to notice that slip-up. Yes, 'we.' The others are here too, you just can't see them; I can, since I'm a reaper, but you'd need chichiue's permission for them to become visible. I was tied to my gravestone for some reason... but now I think, since you've come back, I've accomplished my dying wish. We're free." _Then the ghost cocked his head to the side and snickered. _"Soul sa__ys to 'Hurry it up, Tiny Tits.'_"

Laughing and hiccuping at the same time, the meister got shakily to her feet and looked towards the bottom of the hill. A small rectangle of light with fog pouring through it, the doorway she'd stepped through, was still there. "You'll follow me?"

_"Of course. We all will."_

A little happier now, she found the strength to keep walking, stepping through the doorway with a puff of fog, and the courage to take a deep breath and face Lord Death again.

This time with her team at her side, whatever form they may be in.

* * *

**So? *twiddles thumbs* Do you like it? Review and I shall continue! (Or don't review and I'll continue anyways. I'm weird like that.)**

**Also, for those of you who know me, this is DeaththeKidKat speaking/writing/whatever, I changed my pen name. ^.^  
**

**Kid: YOU KILLED ME! T^T  
**

**Maka: *hiccuping* Why are you so cruel?  
**

**Kat: Hehehehe... I have plans for the both of you. *looks around shiftily* That do NOT involve a pairing, thank you very much! Sorry for the Kima fans. But I don't do romance.  
**

**Maka: *still hiccuping* What's Kima?  
**

**Kat: ... *facepalm*  
**

**-Kat-  
**


	2. The First Day: Truth

**Well, I've got a good response so far (I'm writing this like ten hours after posting the damn thing...)**

sekushi na sakura subarashi: Thank you! Keep reading!  
VilaDeath: XD I go to church, so... :3 anyways. FOOD.  
olivia the rat: Thank you!  
Just-Me-and-My-Brain: I am. See?

**Um... enjoy!**

**Oh, and sesame2009 wants to say something: Hi people!**

**oh really?**

* * *

The Slumber of Ghosts  
Chapter Two

* * *

Stepping through the wall of fog, Maka coughed and blinked again. _Damn stuff._ She glanced to her right unconsciously for Kid, to find she was alone. For a second she panicked, then a voice whispered in her ear: _"Better make my reunion with chichiue dramatic. We're all still here."_ Then she felt compelled to laugh, but she was already stepping onto the platform in front of the mirror.

Before them stood Spirit, Lord Death, Marie, Sid, Nygus, and two men that looked like older versions of Ox and Killik. Oh right. They were. All seven looked up, startled, when Maka stepped through.

Marie's eyes filled up with happy tears. "I knew it was you!" She hugged the meister tightly, then stepped back.

Maka half-smiled and nodded to Ox and Killik. They looked amazed for a second - after all, she hadn't aged a bit - then grinned warmly back. "Yeah, I'm back. I guess."

"And?" Lord Death's tone was still icy, but tinged with desperation. "Did you... meet them?"

"I did," she answered softly. "And Kid's ghost."

The impossible (or so they thought) happened. A single tear appeared from his right eye hole and carved its way down the length of the mask. "... Kiddo? What did he say?"

"I'll let him tell you," Maka replied simply, with a small smile. A small shimmering sound emanated from beside her and without looking she knew Kid had materialized. The reaper raised an eyebrow and bowed slightly mockingly to his father and the other teachers. The leftover fog from the mirror swirled through him, making him opaque for a moment before dissipating and allowing him to fade back to his more ghostly look. He kept the beach attire.

"Kiddo!" Lord Death exclaimed, reaching forward. Maybe because he was the boy's father (or maybe because he was a reaper too, duh), he somehow managed to place a large white hand on the ghost's shoulder. "I knew you would return."

Kid smirked. _"Well, I had a little help."_ He inclined his head to Maka. _"By the way, thanks for including my message. As I remember that can be rather difficult to choke out when you have a gaping hole in your chest."_

Maka gaped. "What?" Kid just waved her away.

_"So chichiue, Maka here has a little request,"_ he continued.

"Really?" Lord Death's eyes appeared to twinkle. Even though they were just holes. If that makes any sense.

"Yes," the blonde meister confirmed nervously. "I want... you to make the others visible."

Kid winced and put a hand to his head. _"Damn it, BlackStar! Shut up! You don't need to yell in my ear!" _Maka burst out laughing.

Lord Death chuckled. "Very well. But each ghost can only appear to two beings - one human and the Reapers." Shaking just slightly, the blonde nodded. "As you wish. Kiddo?" The ghost dipped his head. Both reapers stood before each other, each placing a hand on the others' shoulder.

"What is Lord Death doing?" Killik asked Maka, confused. She looked puzzled, then understood. Only she could see Kid. And the others, soon.

A small glowing yellow circle carved itself in the floor around the two reapers, brighter and brighter until with a flash both staggered back. _"Well, that worked well," _Kid commented wryly, looking around at the scorch marks and shocked expressions. Lord Death just laughed.

_"Oh, come on! You should have let your God join in! I WOULD HAVE DONE IT MUCH BETTER!"_

_"Shut up, BlackStar."_

_"KYA-HA-HA! Starryface is an idiot!"  
_

_"Patty..."  
_

_"It's okay guys. See, Maka can talk to us now!"_

Maka gasped and her eyes welled up with tears. Before her stood the assembled (bickering) team she'd missed so much. They all turned to see her, surprised. BlackStar's ghost pouted. _"Damn. Now I can't get away with_ _anything."_

"What do you mean?" she asked cautiously.

_"Nothing!" _Tsubaki covered up hastily, looking exasperated. _"This is supposed to be a happy reunion, BlackStar."_

_"Why?" _he snorted. _"She's been asleep twenty years. She doesn't know the difference." _Seeing the look on said girl's face, he gulped and shut up. Clearly twenty years didn't seem to have dulled his memories of a certain ability to pull books out of thin air. Maka had always had a talent for that. Speaking of which, the meister yanked out a copy of 'War and Peace,' which if you don't know is a big freaking book.

_"Miss me?" _Soul asked, coming up next with his toothy grin. Maka almost cried, but then again, it hadn't been twenty years for her, so it was more like waking-up-hearing-your-partner's-dead-crying-over-his-grave-then-talking-to-him-again. Wait. That's exactly what it was like. She almost facepalmed but that would have looked weird.

Instead she opted for throwing the book at his head, and found to her disappointment that method of terrorizing could work no longer as 'War and Peace' sailed straight through his spiky white hair and slammed into Ox' forehead. "What the hell was that for?" the bald meister groaned, feeling at the red bump on his forehead. "Why'd you throw that thing at _me?_"

"I was throwing it at-" Maka protested, then cut off with an awkward realization. _They_ couldn't see Soul. Lord Death could, of course, but other than that Maka was the only living being in the room who could hear and see the group of six before her. Who, by the way, were all roaring with laughter. "Shut up!" she yelled, starting to turn red in embarrassment.

_"Nice going, Bookworm!" _BlackStar laughed.

Narrowing her eyes, Maka thought up a way she _could_ hurt them. Sidling up to a certain blonde sister, she whispered, "Mind taking care of him for me?" Patty grinned, saluted, then chased a screaming BlackStar around the Death Room, cackling all the way. Liz decided to join in on the fun, transforming into a pistol and lending her sister a hand as the blue-haired assassin now had to dodge several hundred clouds of pink bullets screaming towards his head.

_"KYA-HA-HA~!" _she cheered. _"I'll rip your guts out, you_ _muthafu-"_

"Anyways," Lord Death interrupted easily. "Best get out of here."

Maka raised an eyebrow at him. "Why?"

Kid explained. _"Because we're forced to follow you around. For the rest of your life. Unless you expressly order us to do something, and then we can only stay away for about twenty four hours before being teleported back to you. And what chichiue is implying is this particular group... that you are stuck with... are all annoying as hell."_

She groaned and rubbed her eyes. "Forever? Are you fricking kidding me?"

_"Nope."_

"Well then, at least get Patty to stop."

_"Fine.__" _Kid sighed, and waved at his weapon. _"Patty, don't terrorize BlackStar. Right now, anyways. Maka should get home and unpack all her stuff so she can sleep in a bed for once."_

Maka frowned. "Wait, what?"

Lord Death fidgeted. "Er, yeah. About that. We kind of knew you'd be coming back, but after Soul died Blair went off to live somewhere else so we just... packaged everything in your apartment up and left it there. It's actually quite a popular place to try and break into, since you're something of a legend now, but every time some student tries they get... eh... warded off, we should say, by a stranger." He chuckled. "Nobody's ever seen her face, but every terrified kid reports to me the next morning that all they saw was a flash of purple, a pair of cat ears, claw marks, and then a hiss as the stranger ran away."

Both Maka and Soul burst out laughing. "Oh, Blair," Maka sighed happily. "I can't wait to see her again. Has she aged like the rest of you?"

"Not one bit," Spirit spoke up, wolf whistling and winking with his thumbs up. Everybody present rolled their eyes.

"I'm a little confused," Killik muttered. "Maka, why are you talking to midair? Please tell me you didn't go... you know," he drew circles next to his ear with one finger, "loopy."

She glared at him. "I most certainly did not. I'm talking to the ghosts, idiot."

_"Because that sounds perfectly sane," _Soul commented unnecessarily. Maka glared at him too. Of course that made it look worse.

"Well, we're going now," she announced, skipping happily out. A few guillotines in, something occured to her and she spun around. "Where is Kim? And Jackie?" Ox burst into tears, Killik's expression hardened, and Maka's face fell. "Oh no..."

_"We'll fill you in more when we get back to the apartment," _Soul muttered gently, steering his tearful meister away and down the hallway by flapping his arms distractingly. She complied, stumbling zombielike down the hallway and through the streets to her apartment. To her surprise the key was still in her pocket, looking good as new after twenty years. She inserted it into the lock and with a familiar click she and the others piled in.

It was dark at first, but the assembled ghosts were glowing faintly with eerie light, while Kid had disappeared completely aside from his glowing amber eyes and three white stripes. "Creepy."

Flicking on the lights, Maka exhaled through her nose. There was a very thin layer of dust over everything, but that could be fixed. All of her stuff aside from the kitchen appliances and the couch and coffeetable were boxed up and covered from prying eyes and hands. "Well, Soul? We're home."

He grunted, peering at everything. _"It's seen better days." _She laughed.

Then she turned to look at all of them squarely. Kid had reappeared in the light and was examining a dusty box in dismay, but at the meister's stern cough he turned reluctantly and lined up with the rest of the team.

"That's strange," Maka mused. "I can see your faces, but all of you aside from Kid are just... wispy. Like I think I see you one minute, then the next it's just glimpses of your face."

Kid frowned. _"Hmm... Well, I suppose it could be because you don't know what to expect. Just imagine them like... um, me I guess. They'll emerge looking like they did right before they died. Ahem, without the bloody wounds and all."_

_"So we'll be in beach clothes?"_ Liz asked eagerly. _"Awesome. Hey Maka, will you give me one of those ruffled cropped tops that I wore to your last birthday party? I mean, the one you were actually present at..."_

"Bloody wounds?" was all she could choke out.

They glanced at each other awkwardly. Soul coughed and spoke up. _"Well, yeah. We sacrificed ourselves to defeat the Kishin, why wouldn't we be wounded?"_

"How bad was it?" she asked softly.

_"Bad."_ Tsubaki looked contrite. _"You may not want to hear this, Maka."_

"No, I do," the meister countered strongly, at the same time imagining her friends with beach clothes. BlackStar and Soul were clothed similarly to Kid, except Soul's black cargo shorts had his orange soul symbol on the left hem and BlackStar's were blue. Tsubaki had a yellow sundress that dropped to her knees, and her ponytail was braided, and Liz and Patty had identical ruffled crop tops and short jean shorts.

Kid smirked then took a deep breath and started to explain. _"First off, I was the most badly wounded yet I lived the longest, because of my Reaper capabilities. Let's see, I had the stab wound through my chest, several broken ribs and obviously a punctured lung, both arms were broken and I'm pretty sure I fractured a few bones in my right leg. Numerous cuts and bruises, along with an absolutely hideous cut across my left cheek. Bad concussion, sore throat from being half choked to death, and last but not least a nice long gash across my abdomen." _He stepped back with a satisfied smile, not really paying attention to the shocked look on Maka's face.

_"Geez, be a little less blunt," _Soul complained. _"Right, on to me. Well, Asura decided to give me a nice long slash to mirror the one I got from Crona- Kid, shut up."_ He didn't even have to look to his side to see the reaper's mouth open, ready to say something along the lines of 'It was a perfect wound!' or some crap like that._ "Lots of cuts and scrapes, I think he stabbed me clear through the stomach, although it didn't come out my back, uh... broken bones, too many fractures to count, and burns on my back from all the blasts I took."_

_"My turn!"_ BlackStar yelled triumphantly. _"I got this awesome scar from an earlier battle-"_ he pointed to a small dark line through his right eyebrow and over his eye _"-and then I got stabbed in leg, lots of awesome slices through my sides, dislocated shoulder, cut on my neck, concussion, frac-whatevers, and my foot looked all mangled and_ weird!" The assassin laughed uproariously, oblivious to the flush of green that was slowly spreading up Maka's face.

Tsubaki sweatdropped. _"Us weapons, aside from Soul, weren't hurt as bad, but we could barely stay awake - we supplied a lot of our life force to keep BlackStar and Soul going. Kid wasn't as exhausted, but... nevermind. I just got burned when I shielded BlackStar after he'd dropped the first time, and, uh, two broken ribs..."_

Liz examined her nails, nonplussed. _"Whatever. Patty and I got burned, energy depleted, and we died when we gave all our life force to sustain Kid's last blast. Soul was already dead by then, I think Tsubaki was down, but BlackStar held out long enough to... I don't know. Kid didn't tell us much even after we were ghosts and spent twenty-frickin-years sitting in that circle of gravestones and doing nothing. I Spy gets boring when the only colors are green, blue, white, black, gold, and gray. Kid's grave was so much more stylish than mine."_

This sparked an all-out arguments, with mixed in 'YAHOO!'s' and plenty of whining about symmetry.

Maka just swallowed the bile in her throat and smiled softly.

_Well, at least we're all back together again._

* * *

**Aww, poor Maka. XD having to listen to her friends explain their gruesome battle wounds without really caring. Hey, why should they? They're already dead. Not much you can do to a ghost. And Liz was always afraid of them... lol.**

**-Kat-**


	3. The First Day: Explanation

**New chapter as promised! And guess what? SCHOOL'S OUT! AND I UPLOADED A COVER THINGY FOR THIS! Think I might go post that on deviantART, it'll be easier to see. ;) EDIT: I did post it on deviantART. Search me as 'DeaththeKidKat'  
**

Dummy Perception: Haha, yes they did. I enjoy making Maka turn green (sudden Hulk moment!). ;P I hate Maka too sometimes, but hey, she makes a good tragic main character for this idea, so... I didn't want to put my darling Kid through that. T^T  
Soul Omamori: Why, thank you! I'm absolutely obsessed with this idea, so for now it's going to be updated more thoroughly than my other fanfics... I really need to stop writing multi-chapters.  
Riku Ashwood: D'aww, thanks! And I am continuing, see?  
PandaBearSoul: Ah yes, Jamba Juice. *dreams of Berry Blend* You better be going to Starbucks with me today. It shall be fun spitting blended strawberry lemonade all over _you. _*cacklez*  
VilaDeath: Kid is so oblivious. XD they all are.  
olivia the rat: Thanks!  
Just-Me-and-My-Brain: Yes, yes you do see. O_o

**Right. Okay, new chapter. Um... enjoy. (I have nothing more to say... ah, imaginative me.)**

* * *

The Slumber of Ghosts  
Chapter Three

* * *

"So we've gone over wounds," Maka clarified, fighting down a wave of nausea as she imagined Kid with a bloody hole in his chest and BlackStar with a mangled foot. "What happened? I want to know the whole battle."

Kid glanced at the clock. 10:42am. His form flickered in the light and he sighed, settling on the arm of the couch while the others piled on a cluster of boxes, unusually subdued. _"Fine. We'll give you a... play-by-play version, so to speak."_ Then he glared at the assembled group. _"And don't interrupt me or I swear to the pits of Hell I will refract all your souls for a week."_

The team gulped and BlackStar whimpered._ "Not again... that was more painful than my mangled foot..."_

Maka shuddered, not wanting to know what Kid meant by 'refract,' and gestured to him to start his story.

_"All right, so at first it started because Medusa surrendered to us-"_

**_"What?"_** The scythe meister shot bolt upright.

He waved her off. _"Just listen. Medusa surrendered to us, then made a deal: In exchange for her freedom, clemency, and a promise that nobody from the DWMA would harm her, she would give us the location of Arachne's lair - Baba Yaga Castle - and the real BREW. The one we failed to recover from Lost Island was a fake, the one Arachne had in her possession."_ He cleared his throat. _"My father agreed, and Medusa was set free. The Academy soon began an attack on Baba Yaga Castle while I myself was sent on a rather irritating mission to retrieve a magic tool involving some... unfortunate clowns._" Grimacing, he shot a look at the giggling Patty. _"At the time, BlackStar, Tsubaki, and Soul were tasked with storming the castle itself._ In secret-" a glare was aimed at a certain cowering assassin_ "-while Ox's team infiltrated the place and located Asura, by proxy of Azusa's connection to Kim. I retrieved the magic tool and arrived back at the school to help chichiue."_

Liz raised her hand and her meister nodded at her politely, shooting another pointed stare at BlackStar. The eldest Thompson coughed and smirked. _"May I add, Kid, you completely forgot the part about Stein and Marie."_

_"I was getting to that,"_ Kid scowled. _"Stein, as you know, wandered off to Medusa's hideout. Her little minions were off at Baba Yaga Castle, so it was just her and Stein. Marie and Crona took it upon themselves to pay, ahem, a little _visit _to the snake witch. It was a long, drawn out battle, etcetera, etcetera, until Marie managed to heal the madness within Stein and free him to use her to defeat the witch. Crona pitched in and eventually killed his mother... except, um..."_ He shifted and looked Maka straight in the eyes with a somber gaze. _"At the cost of his own life."_

"Oh, no..." Maka crumpled in on herself, tears flowing easily down her face. "No no no no... Not another one!" With this, she wailed to the ceiling, "Why? Why me? I come back and _everyone_ I cared about, all my friends, are dead!" She kicked a box, upending it. The twenty year old tape split and out spilled photos and photos and photos. This only added to her despair, for perched on the top was a small stack tied together with a rubber band - all the pictures from a day at the basketball courts, right after the Kishin was first released and everybody was trying to regain some sense of normalcy. Worst of all, _they_ were all in the frame: Crona, Mini Ragnarok, Kid, Soul, BlackStar, Tsubaki, Patty, Liz sitting off on the sidelines messing with a bottle of nail polish... All dead and gone. Except for her. For there she was, disgruntled, exasperated, and strangely happy as she stuck her tongue out at BlackStar, in the middle of throwing the ball right over his head into the waiting hands of...

Kid and Soul. It was the perfect action shot, midair with both of them bumping shoulders as they stretched to reach their prize. Their expressions were frozen in the moment; the spiky-white-head with sharp teeth bared in protest, while the reaper just smirked that little smirk of his because his pale long arms were closer and he _knew_ he'd catch the ball first.

The perfect shot to break her heart all over again.

Curling into a tiny ball, Maka began sobbing her soul out, slowly making a neat puddle on the dusty unused carpet. In a way it was like cleaning away the grime - only to reveal that underneath, everything that looked the same really was changed forever. Nothing could go back to being the same, simply because you cannot bring back someone from the dead. Sure, now she could talk and laugh with them, but never again could Kid and Soul bump shoulders in midair reaching for the ball because if they did the orange and black missile would pass straight through their misty fingers, through their chests and out their backs to bounce along the ground as if nothing was there in the first place.

Because no matter how active a ghost was, they were still a ghost. That could never change.

Maka knew this, and this is what served to jolt her emotions so much. It wasn't her fault they were dead, and at the same time it was. Without her help they had to die to defeat Asura. If she hadn't stayed late studying... if she hadn't played basketball that one day so she was behind on that one essay on the ectoplasmic outer layer of a Kishin soul... that damn witch could never have gotten near her, never could have trapped her in a book, the damned things she'd loved so much.

So really, in the end, this picture was the thing that changed everything.

"I hate it!" she screamed, grabbing the picture and ripping off the rubber band, tearing it in half lengthwise. _"I hate it!"_

_"Maka, you need to calm down!"_ Kid snarled, touching her shoulder and pulling her away. She froze.

He'd pulled her away.

"You're... solid?" she gasped, turning to the misty reaper. He looked just as shocked as she, looking at his hands in astonishment.

_"I'm solid?"_

_"Kid's solid?"_

_"Kya-ha-ha~!"_

_"No fair."_

Kid shook his head and crouched beside the meister. _"It was not your fault. We made the decision to fight, knowing we probably wouldn't come out alive. We have no-one to blame but the witch who trapped you in the first place. Now will you listen to the rest of the fight?"_

Sniffling, Maka nodded and wiped her eyes, leaning against a box facing Kid and the others again.

_"Marie and Stein started to return to the DWMA, where I had just arrived and was arguing with chichiue about what he was really up to. I had been suspicious for some time, after a different mission for a different magic tool- again, a long story. In the end he explained everything, about Eibon the Magician, Arachne, Medusa, Asura, the Great Ones, albeit in a shortened version. Excalibur appeared and helped with the story a little."_ Cue Excalibur face for a moment._ "I handed over the magic tool, which turned out to be Eibon himself. He unlocked BREW and basically turned Death City into a gigantic moving/flying/fighting robot."_

_"It was awesome!" _Patty cheered. Kid glared at her and mouthed the word 'refract.' That didn't faze her though (what would?) and she stuck her tongue out.

With a sigh, the reaper continued. _"Anyways... chichiue fought with Baba Yaga Castle, which also turned out to be a huge robot, and finally incapacitated it and retrieved Asura in a rather unorthodox manner. He was dumped straight into the Death Room, and after another lengthy battle with much talking and swinging your father around in scythe form of course, Asura pulled a low blow and aimed a madness beam at myself and Azusa, who were watching from the platform."_ He winced, and his eyes narrowed in sorrow. _"Chichiue took the blast and Asura floated out, consuming Arachne's soul and creating a barrier. At the last minute, BlackStar (after finishing another battle that I don't care to elaborate on with the samurai Mifune) and Soul jumped through the closing cracks at the same moment as I entered on Beelzebub."_

Maka frowned (and gaped) at the same moment. "Robot? Papa? Whatever, but, uh- what's Beelzebub? I thought he was a devil."

_"No,"_ Kid corrected amusedly. _"Beelzebub is what I named my skateboard. True, originally he was a guardian of the Hellgates, but he was wounded and so my father imbued his essence into me, so I could have some means of transportation, and I chose a skateboard. Really I could alter his form but I have grown attached to his current appearance."_

_"Hell, we never knew that,"_ Liz grumbled.

_"Because I never told you,"_ her meister countered. _"Can I get back to the battle? Asura had grown in size thanks to the power of the witch's soul, which proved rather troublesome. His skin was most difficult to cut through, and Death Cannon appeared to have no effect. We were thrown into walls and debris more times than I care to count, but the Kishin was growing tired of playing so we really had no other option than... well, give it everything. BlackStar managed to cut one of his arms clear off, after one of those annoying scarves had pierced me through the chest. Hence the gaping wound."_

BlackStar humphed. _"You forgot the part of where he attacked me with about a million scarves and I, being the amazing BlackStar, managed to dodge them!"_

Soul snorted. _"And then you missed a few and they shredded your foot."_

_"So what? I was awesome! And it was a mere flesh wound!"  
_

_"You couldn't walk."  
_

_"Shut up!"  
_

_"Refraction, guys!"  
_

_"Shit."_

Kid eyeballed them. _"Good. BlackStar was essentially down, and so was I, but for some reason my first Sanzu line connected and powered Death Cannon to the point it reduced Asura to a more bearable size. Human size, like when we first met him. According to Soul, who was doing his best to not get killed-" _this prompted a scowl from said scythe _"-my eyes were glowing blue, which doesn't seem to have any importance in explaining what happened. Asura advanced on me, intent on killing me, when-"_

_"Tsubaki grew a spine and zapped BlackStar, waking him up and making him lucid enough to stab the Kishin through the heart," _Soul added helpfully.

_"Be quiet. Last warning. Yes, as Soul said (sorry, Tsubaki), BlackStar stabbed Asura and gave me enough time to wake up and staunch the bleeding with a little bit of Reaper healing. It doesn't last long, though, especially with that severe of a wound, so I knew I had to act fast. Through our measly Resonance connection I informed BlackStar that the only way to win was to, well, die. Soul agreed immediately, and after a moment our egotistical friend here announced 'he'd die a hero, of course, surpassing God.' We had an agreement. Liz and Patty didn't even hesitate - thank you by the way, girls - and Tsubaki would follow BlackStar anywhere. Our only plan was really... like I said, just give it all we had."_

_"The end!" _Soul joked.

_"No. Now shut up. You were the first to go, Soul. Why don't you explain it?"_

The weapon winced. _"... fine. I kind of, um, yelled 'Maka!' and charged the guy. I think I cut most of his torso clean off with a little bit of help from my little Black Blood friend, but, eh, the damn Kishin kinda... shot a madness beam at both me and BlackStar (who had collapsed again). One hit me, and I was pretty much dead, but I managed to shield BlackStar from the second one. Then... uh... I died. What happened after that?"_

_"Well, you kinda whispered 'Maka' again then died," _Liz supplied.

Maka and Soul blushed bright red at the same time.

Kid rolled his eyes. _"It was traumatizing. Lovely. Now, BlackStar got it through his thick skull that he had to put a little more Shadow power into the Kishin's heart to weaken him enough for me to finish him, and did just that. He activated Enchanted Sword, stabbed Asura through the heart, pumped all the energy he and Tsubaki had into shadows and just... ripped him apart from the inside. Then they both died, the barrier turned clear and wavered, and it was just Asura and I."_

_"Dying was fun!" _BlackStar boasted.

_"No it wasn't, dumbass."_

_"You wouldn't know, Soul!"  
_

_"Uh... dude? I'm dead too."  
_

_"Oh right! HAHAHA!"  
_

_"SHUT UP, ALL OF_ _YOU!" _Kid roared, tapping both Soul and BlackStar on the chest. Their images splintered away for about two seconds, then reformed with them rolling on the floor yelling in pain. _"Better, thanks. And dying was traumatizing, BlackStar. Now stay quiet. As I was saying, it was a bit overly dramatic, seeing as chichiue and everyone could see everything - BlackStar and Tsubaki dead, Soul dead, me dying, and Asura struggling to recover. My second and third Sanzu lines connected and... I kind of... shot him in the face. Regular guns, not regular bullets. It was amazing really- it seemed Liz, Patty, and I had achieved the highest resonance that has ever been recorded in the history of the world, aside from my father with his first Death Scythe. Considering the girls weren't Death Scythes, this was indeed a feat. The bullets weren't just my compressed soul wavelengths, they were the pure unbound souls of Liz and Patty. The second those disappeared they reverted to human form, dead. The strangest part was... my soul had split in half, and gone with each of the projectiles."_

_"It was painful," _Liz complained.

Kid's expression turned depressed for a minute. _"Seeing as I was the only one still alive, it was much worse for me. All of that compressed Death God and pure untainted human courage at the same time was too much for Asura, and he screamed and split in two. All of the human souls he'd ever eaten came flooding out, but Arachne's soul was never found. As I remember, the second the barrier disappeared completely, chichiue broke all the rules of Order governing his soul and broke out of Death City for the first and last time since grounding his soul, gathering me and the others in his arms and returning to the Death Room to weep. I'm told his mask split down the middle but nobody could get a glimpse because the shadows surrounding him were too tumultuous. That's when I woke up, in time to choke out the message you saw on my gravestone, before giving in and... dying."_

_"The_ _end!"_ BlackStar yelled.

Maka had started crying again somewhere around 'the rules of Order' and could only stare at the two pieces of the photograph in her hands. "And then he buried you... I'm so sorry!" She tried blinking and rubbing away the tears, but they kept coming, blurring her vision so that the people in the picture were all fuzzy.

She didn't even register what Kid said next, or Tsubaki's comforting words, or Patty's subdued laughing. All she could do was stare at what she'd just realized.

When she'd ripped it, she'd inadvertently done so in a way that had separated her from the rest of the picture.

She was all alone in one corner of a photo with only ghosts and memories to comfort her.

_No..._

* * *

**Well, that was depressing. -3- and it's summer now too! I should be happy! D:**

**I hope you enjoyed...  
**

**-Kat-  
**


	4. The Second Day: Purpose

**Hi. Um... me again. :3 I'm sorry, I'm totally out of it today. I stayed in bed until about 1:30 in the afternoon... so tired though still! And to top it off I'm munching in Cheerios and sitting in front of my laptop in almost knee-high neon green socks listening to the soundtrack from Madagascar 2. *headdesk* My life is so... weird. Anyways. Chapter!**

Riku Ashwood: If only it were... *salivates* I would be on a continuous sugar high and you would all be dead. CHAINSAW~  
olivia the rat: Thank you!  
Pan15Trunks58: Aww, thanks! I almost started crying when I was writing the tombstones... but I'm not entirely sure I have tear ducts half of the time, so that kind of killed it. -3- Thanks though!  
Dummy Perception: Immortal...? Maka isn't immortal. She's just been preserved while everyone else aged twenty years XD But in a way you're right. I might have her die at the end of this and join her friends, or have her live on and get over it with them following her around the rest of her life. lol. Poor Maka... I can say this though, I will try to get this to at least thirty chapters, and there will be quite a few adventures with her ghosty friends assisting her. :D Thank you!  
Souleaterrulz: D'aww... my mom would be more like 'WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING AWAKE? GO TO SLEEP _NOW!'_ She's scary. *shivers* But I'm glad you like it!  
IlliaLife: Ehehehe… sorry, probably should put 'spoiler alert' in the summary… but then again, it's kinda AU and I assumed that people have seen enough of Soul Eater to guess… -3- thanks though!

**So yeah. I kind of want to make more art for this... you can see the cover for this in more detail on deviantART. I'm 'DeaththeKidKat,' naturally. XD Enjoy the update!**

**I would have posted this day before yesterday, but there was the boycott on the 23 and yesterday I left for the beach. /: But, here it is! :D**

* * *

The Slumber of Ghosts  
Chapter Four

* * *

After a fitful night of sleep, Maka rose from her covers with a stretch. Slowly opening her eyes, she shrieked and leaped back, banging her head against the wall. Cursing and rubbing her swelling bruise, she glared at the offending object before her. One clad in bright blue swim shorts and a black t-shirt, complete with spiky electric blue hair and a face to rival the typical Excalibur reaction.

"What the hell, BlackStar?" she shouted.

He laughed uproariously, floating upside down and sticking his tongue out, then racing out the door in a misty flash. In the living room, Maka could hear Patty's cackles and Tsubaki's reprimands. Sighing, she blew her bangs out of her eyes with a snort and got up. Quickly changing into a pair of tan short shorts and a white tanktop with the skull insignia and DWMA along the hem, she put her hair up into her customary twin pigtails and entered the kitchen, shooting a sour look at BlackStar.

_"Need some help?"_

Suppressing a shriek, the meister spun to see Kid peering over her shoulder. "God damnit, make some noise when you move!" she growled.

The reaper eyed her, puzzled. _"I'm a ghost. I'm floating."_

"Well, this'll take some getting used to," she grumbled in reply. "Besides, how can you help me cook? You're... well, not solid."

_"I think we proved that wrong yesterday. If I concentrate, I can touch things and pick them up."_ Taking a deep breath, he focused his gaze on a loaf of bread. Maka had unpacked almost all of the boxes yesterday, including her wardrobe and uncovering her bed from a dusty tarp. Then she'd gone grocery shopping. Of course, you don't need much when it's just one person eating...

_"Go Kid!" _Patty cheered. Kid rolled his eyes and reached out to the loaf... picking it up.

Maka smiled. "Well, whaddaya know. I guess you can pick stuff up." Summoning her evil grin, she continued, "Which means you all can help me make breakfast!" Groans rippled throughout the apartment. "Wait." Emerald eyes widened in horror. "Scratch that, Kid, Liz, Tsubaki, and Soul will help me cook. BlackStar and Patty, go practice on some innocent civilians."

The two crazy ghosts whooped and soared straight through the door. Kid clapped appreciatively. _"You're learning how to control them! Excellent. Now, what are you having?"_

"I don't know." She pursed her lips. "I had waffles day before yesterday- I mean, um, twenty years ago? Screw it, it was day before yesterday to me. Pancakes?"

_"Sure,"_ he said, setting down the loaf of bread and opening the fridge. _"From scratch, or mix?"_

"Just mix," the meister yawned. Grabbing the bag of pancake mix, she snatched up a pair of scissors and opened the top. Pouring some in the bowl, she mixed in some eggs and water and milk and other assorted things. The four ghosts ended up just watching. Getting a little irked with them staring at her blankly, she muttered, "You guys can do the actual cooking part." Gesturing to the skillet, she handed Kid the bowl with the mix in it.

Smiling warmly, he poured some on the skillet, then began meticulously rounding them with a spatula. _"Come on, dude,"_ Soul complained, snatching the utensil out of his grip. _"You're not gonna be eating it."_ Sloppily splashing two more globs of pancake mix, the albino flipped them when they were ready with the ease of practice. Kid sulked in the corner.

"Mmm," Maka mumbled appreciatively, loading her plate with the four pancakes. Squirting a healthy amount of maple syrup on top, she gobbled them down in record time, then quickly laced her favorite boots on and started out the door, pausing in confusion. "Wait. Patty and BlackStar are still gone... they could be anywhere."

_"Call them back to you,"_ Kid suggested.

Maka narrowed her eyes. "Uh... how?"

_"Imagine there's a string around their waist, leading all the way back to your hand. Yank on the string."_ He grinned.

Laughing a little, she complied and concentrated, making a sharp movement with her hand.

_"What the hell?"  
_

_"Kya-haha~!"  
_

"Did you have fun?" Maka asked dryly, staring the pair down sternly. They nodded, BlackStar a little more meek than Patty. The meister bounded down the steps, the ghosts following her. Emerging into the sunlight outside of their apartment complex, she blinked then smiled in the warmth, setting off for the DMWA with a spring in her step.

Passing people in the street was strange. Before, she had known almost every person on Executioner's Street***1***, and usually waved at them as she went by. Now she knew nobody. No, that wasn't true. She _thought_ she recognized some people, but it was shocking to see them now – Mrs. Simmons, who she knew as a cheerful thirty-or-so shopkeeper, was now pudgy and slightly more wrinkled. It was hard to even recognize her.

_"You'll get used to it,"_ Soul mumbled into her ear. _"Also, I'd advise against talking to us out in public. Don't want to get carted off to an insane asylum, do we?"_

"Shut up," she muttered, barely moving her lips.

Finally they reached the imposing flight of steps. Bounding up them easily, Maka glanced around at the few gaggles of students that passed her by. It was all so unfamiliar and foreign. _My own damn fault for being imprisoned for twenty years without knowing it._ _Nobody here even knows me._ That depressing thought weighed down her steps, and expression, making her look gloomy and brooding. Not what she'd prefer to look like. Trying to brighten her smile, the meister ran lightly through the halls to the Death Room, knocking on the door.

It swung open with a cheery "Come in!" Grinning, for that was the tone the blonde was more used to hearing from Lord Death, she ran in and skidded to a stop when she saw there was a meister and weapon pair already sitting there. They looked at her in shock.

"Who are you?" The girl on the right, who was small and slight with black hair tied back in a fancy braid and clad in an outfit similar to the traditional DWMA schoolgirl ensemble Kim and Jackie had used to wear, narrowed her dark eyes distrustfully.

"Oh, don't be grumpy," her partner chided. He smirked at Maka, his spiky brown hair and angular blue eyes speaking all mischief. "I'm Lee, this is my weapon partner Cherokee."

Cherokee huffed and turned away.

"Nice to meet you," Maka said, half polite and half stiff with annoyance at the unwelcome greeting. "Maka Albarn."

Lee's eyes widened. "No way!" he breathed. "_The_ Maka Albarn? I thought you were dead!"

Maka was taken aback. "Um… no."

_"It helps that you're alive," _Kid commented unnecessarily. The meister in front of him would have snapped something back, but considering she was trying to make a good impression on the new people here (or well, they weren't new, but to her it felt like they were), she wasn't going to start talking to what looked like thin air.

"She was placed under a curse for a while," Lord Death intervened. "Now, Lee, Cherokee, thank you for reporting your mission. You can go now."

They both nodded respectfully and ran out.

_"Chichiue, do you have a mission we – well, Maka – can take? It's boring hanging around Death City all the time with nowhere to go," _Kid complained.

Lord Death hummed and rubbed the bottom of his mask thoughtfully. "That's a good question. She can't do much without a weapon… ah, of course! Genetics!"

Kid's expression brightened. _"Brilliant! We just have to find a way for her to unlock it."_

"Yes… perhaps some trauma?"

_"Don't freak her out, chichiue. She just got back."_

"What else could draw it out? Training?"

_"That might work. Or we could use Living Soul Konso to try and draw it out, activate it."_

"I'll need some help… or maybe we could bring Spirit in."

_"Anything but that."_

"You're right. How about-"

"Will you stop talking about me like I'm not here?" Maka exploded, fuming. "What in the hell are you two rambling about anyway? Genetics? Papa? What is Living Soul Konso?"

Lord Death raised his hands defensively. "Now, now, don't get all worked up. We were just trying to work out a way to find you a weapon. Of sorts. See, weapon blood is genetic, right? Tsubaki is a good example. Her family's abilities have been passed down for generations. Sometimes it's a little more scattered, like with the Thompsons and Soul. Their blood was passed down by chance, only one in four of their family members probably carried the gene for it." He paused to tilt his head to the side a bit. "Now with you, it's a different matter. You are a meister, with a very strong ability for Soul Perception, but you also carry the blood of a weapon. You are one of the exceptions, one of the few who can choose what they wish to be. In all truth, your choice was a bit subconscious – you were rejecting your father by choosing the path of a meister. But you still carry the genes for a weapon."

Kid interrupted. _"So what we're saying is, you don't have to find another partner. With some training, you can be like Justin Law, and operate as a solo weapon and meister combination. Well, with us of course."_ He winked.

"I'm… a weapon?" Maka's jaw was hanging. "Okay… I guess, yeah. So, um, how do I activate my, er, weapon?"

_"Why don't you let the experts teach you?"_ Kid suggested amusedly, gesturing to Soul, Tsubaki, Liz, and Patty. They blinked in surprise.

_"So I have to watch?" _BlackStar whined.

Kid glared at him. _"Yes. Now stay quiet."_

Tsubaki bit her lip. _"Um… well… I don't know where to start."_

_"Just concentrate on what weapon you think you are,"_ Soul suggested in a bored tone. _"Imagine your arm becoming a blade, or chain, or whatever. A machine gun or something."_

_"Or a bazooka!" _Patty cheered. _"Be a bazooka, Maka! Please?"_

"No," Maka growled. She took a deep breath and thought. _Well, I'd be a scythe, wouldn't I? Papa is. And Soul is. Yeah, a scythe… I guess. Or a pair of smaller scythes. Now that would be cool… but I'm only one person. Just imagine blades on my wrists… black and white. No, black and gray. Silver and black. Agh! Yeah, just silver and black._

Concentrating hard, she imagined two small, slim blades emerging on the outer side of her forearms, one on each side. _Concentrate. Just think scythe blades. Small scythe blades._

To her surprise, there was a small shimmer and a flash of white, and there on her forearms materialized two blades. Nearly jumping back in shock, the meister stared at them, mesmerized.

Both were about two and a half feet long, the colors divided in half like Soul's, except instead of a zigzag it was more of a curly wave pattern. They were curved gently, silver on bottom and black on top. They were-

_"Awesome!"_ Patty cackled, running/flying in circles around Maka. _"Slice someone in half! Slice someone in half! LET THE BLOOD FLOW!"_

Almost all present shivered, with the exception of Kid and Liz. (They were used to it.) "I don't think so, Patty," Maka placated her carefully. "Let's wait until we run into a Kishin."

The overenthusiastic pistol pouted, but agreed reluctantly.

"This is great, Maka!" Lord Death said happily. "With some training, you can use those blades to rejoin the ranks and take on missions again! Why, I bet you could make yourself a Death Scythe in no time!"

"Isn't that thinking a little far ahead?" she replied nervously, still gazing at the blades. "I think I'd want to train with these, get used to them first.

_"Well, duh," _BlackStar snorted. _"Wouldn't want a useless weapon."_

She glared at him. "Just you wait. I bet I can make Death Scythe in… a year."

Kid whistled. _"I'm placing my money on you. You'll need help, of course." _He smiled, sticking his hands in his pockets. _"BlackStar and I can work out a training regimen. Your year starts… now."_

Grinning happily, the meister skipped out of the Death Room and made her way (by Kid's suggestion) to Gallows Mansion, which had been kept clean and tidy for twenty years thanks to some servants hired by Lord Death. The younger reaper showed her to one of his huge training gyms, with a shooting range, full set of bars and ropes hanging from the ceiling, an obstacle course complete with a floor that spurted flames and icy water, and among other things a big padded floor for martial arts.

They started right away, BlackStar and Kid directing and arguing over specific skill sets, Maka running laps around the gym to get used to moving with her blades, and the rest of the team sitting off on the side and chatting/playing/napping.

One thought ran through Maka's head as she jogged, smiling down at the blades that were giving her hope.

_I have a purpose again._

* * *

**Agh. Damn. I brought OCs into it, didn't I? Well, don't worry, I'll try and keep those to a minimum. No crazy Mary Sues with weird powers. No siree. But I can promise some insane Kishin eggs that are the product of my strange overactive imagination… and they shall be insane. O_o 'Tis a promise.**

*1* I really don't know. I just make up street names -3-

**Muhahaha. Um… happy hunting. Kill some deer. Wait, does anybody hunt? Archery? Eh, I saw Brave yesterday. I'm rambling, aren't I? What do deer have to do with anything? Hmph. Purple santa hats.**

**Tacos.**

**Till next time!**

**-Kat-**


	5. The Third Day: Training

**Hello again. Fear not, I am not ignoring my other stories! As a matter of fact, I'm in the middle of writing the epilogue to Furry Fury! I really need to get that done... -3-;**

aprildragonfire16: Oh, Blair's gonna appear soon... *cackles* Don't fret. And Crona's dead. I explained that in the last chapter -.-  
Riku Ashwood: Yeeesh. Why?  
Vampireninja101: But it's good rambling! D: And thank you! ^.^  
Ferbguy101: Well, in their defense, they didn't have anything to do but play I Spy and other games that don't require touch. Like Charades. Stuff like that. XD For TWENTY YEARS. It would have driven me insane.  
Sally Straws: O_o YOUUU~. Sorry, yeah, except if you had someone that was a grade below you and stalked your group every day at lunch for about a month you'd get a little ticked off too. (Or maybe you wouldn't. I do~) But thank you.  
AmaixRodo96: Thank you! I'm glad you liked it ;)

**Well... enjoy.**

* * *

The Slumber of Ghosts  
Chapter Five

* * *

"Ugh... why did you have to wake me up at... is it FIVE IN THE MORNING? GODDAMNIT, BLACKSTAR!"

Such shouts rang through the small apartment, sending Patty, Soul, and Liz into fits of laughter, while Kid leaned against the counter with his eyes closed - completely uninterested - and Tsubaki sweatdropped. A moment later, BlackStar literally came flying into the room, cackling as he dodged Maka's furious attempts at strangling him. In addition to training yesterday, the ghosts had practiced touching and lifting solid things, and Maka had experimented by trying to alternately strangle BlackStar, Maka Chop Soul, or just touch the shoulders of everybody else. With some concentration it proved possible.

"I'll kill you!" she shrieked, finally managing to snag the back of BlackStar's beach shirt and haul him in, strangling him with a rather insane air. She only stopped when Kid stepped in, freeing the struggling assassin and shooting a pointed look at Maka.

_"Breakfast first, then homicide."_

She grudgingly agreed - Kid seemed the only one she'd listen to - and washed her hands, preparing a quick breakfast of toast with butter and slowly getting used to the six pairs of eyes watching her as she ate and washed it down with some OJ. Having changed into her more sporty exercise outfit, she grabbed her gym bag and hurried out the door, flipping over the railing and landing, just for practice. She almost didn't notice the hooded figure that was nearly bulldozed in the process.

"Sorry!" she yelled over her shoulder, sprinting down the street towards Gallows Way. The blonde didn't notice the way the hooded figure stood still in absolute shock, or the fact that there were two tented points in the hood.

Snatching up the key from her pocket that Kid had given her, Maka inserted it into the skull-shaped locks on the door and opened each one quickly, bolting inside, slamming the door, and locking them all again. It would do no good for anyone to find out someone had gotten inside Gallows Mansion. Lord Death knew, but the City Police would most likely arrest them. The Gallows was, after all, the property of Death.

None of them noticed the hooded figure come racing down the street, looking around frantically.

Bounding down the steps four at a time, Maka chattered excitedly with Kid and Soul about how she'd asked Lord Death already for a ticket to Maine, where there was supposedly a string of Kishin egg murders. She was set to leave in a week and wanted to be fully prepared and ready to fight with her blade, so did they think that trying to spar with Soul and/or BlackStar would help more or if she wanted to stick to practice dummies? The debate raged on.

_"I think you should spar against practice dummies,"_ BlackStar scoffed. _"There's no way you'd hold out against the Great and Powerful Me!"_

_"I wouldn't shortchange her, BlackStar,"_ Kid reprimanded, studying his skull rings in boredom. _"I guess you guys never really fought each other, huh?"_

Maka stuck her tongue out. "I could smash his face into the ground any day with a well-placed Chop. Why would I need to spar?"

This sparked more arguing, which inevitably led to BlackStar insulting Maka repeatedly until she lost control and chased him around the gym. Patty had magically made popcorn appear (she's Patty - it's possible) and was chowing down, cheering Maka on.

_"YEAH! CASTRATE 'IM, MAKA!"_

BlackStar yelped and bolted. _"No! Please, nooo!"_

"DON'T WORRY, I WON'T!" Maka yelled back. BlackStar sighed in relief, but the blonde meister wasn't done yet. "I'LL JUST LET PATTY DO IT FOR ME! YOU KNOW SHE'S GOT PRACTICE~..."

_"NOOOOOOO- **OW!"**_

True to her word, Maka slammed the assassin to the ground with an expertly executed Maka Chop, pinning him and threatening to tell Kid to let go of Patty, who had started to rather scarily foam at the mouth and struggle against her meister's hands, shrieking that he should _let her go_ and that she was going to _castrate th__at bastard!_

After almost twenty minutes of fooling around, Kid used his Scary Death Voice and froze everyone - even Maka - in their tracks, ordering them to get back to work. So the scythe meister turned weapon began her training.

BlackStar and Kid had worked out a complicated day-by-day training regimen, helped by Soul and Tsubaki so they could work out good ways to get her into fighting shape. Of course, being trapped inside a book had preserved her for twenty years, but fighting with a weapon on your arms was a lot different than holding the handle. She ran laps, did some gymnastics that both Tsubaki and curiously Kid seemed to know a lot about, and practiced making her weapon appear and disappear.

_"You're doing great!" _Liz called, not even looking up from her nails. She'd found some way to conjure up a bottle of ghostly nail polish and was happily utilizing it.

_"Yeah!" _Patty chimed in, munching more popcorn. (It was very strange to watch - she placed the stuff in her mouth, pulverized it, then let it drop through her ghostly form onto the floor. Kid was busy tearing his hair out and vacuuming after her. More like through her. Literally.)

Maka nodded to them and wiped some sweat away from her forehead, breathing out slowly. "Thanks, I guess..." All of a sudden, she realized the doorbell was ringing - insistently and in a rather frustrated matter, indicating the person had been doing this for some time. "Hey... why didn't you guys tell me the doorbell was ringing?"

_"You were busy,"_ Soul replied helpfully. Cringing under her glare, he grumbled, _"Fine, I'll go see who it is... make sure it's not some axe murderer out for your head."_ With that he flew upstairs.

_"Soul, you've been her partner for longer than any of us, I think you know she could take care of an axe murderer,"_ Kid called, running the vacuum through Patty's ghostly feet and gathering up every last popcorn crumb. _"Patty, eat some dead popcorn would you?__"_

"Dead popcorn?" Maka questioned, arching her back.

Kid turned to her. _"Yes... see that nail polish Liz is using? It was pulverized and atomized some time ago, therefore it now belongs in the Dead World. Things that once had a certain solid/liquid/gas form, but are now scattered, are preserved as memories. We can use these 'dead items,' without risk of them **dropping through our bodies and making a mess on the**** floor."**_ He aimed a glare at Patty for the last sentence.

Soul materialized in a ghostly poof and informed her, _"It's not an axe murderer. You might wanna come see this."_

Sighing, his former meister complied, heading up the stairs and pulling her headband from her forehead to around her neck. "This had better be good." Cracking her knuckles out of habit, and getting directions from Kid through the maze of hallways to the foyer, she undid the locks one by one and opened the door about two feet. "Hi, is there something-"

"OMIGODITISYOUUUU~!" a voice squealed, as a flurry of purple tackled Maka to the floor. "ICAN'TBELIEVEIT~!"

"What on Earth- **BLAIR?****"** Maka spluttered.

Blair - for it was her, looking the same as the day Maka had left - nodded and grinned impossibly wide. "They said you'd be back after twenty years, but I didn't believe them, although I did know you'd come back, or I thought, but anyways, some stupid college kids from the Death University, the guys who failed to be meisters or weapons, yeah, they kept trying to break in, and some DWMA kids, cuz you're a legend, but I wanted the apartment to be nice for you to come back to, so I guarded it, and-" she ran out of breath, going rather purple (like her hair) in the face, then took a deep breath and continued. "so I made sure it would be nice when you came back~!"

"S-slow down," Maka ordered shakily, head reeling from large rant. "I can't tell you how happy I am to see a familiar face!"

_"Hey!"_ Soul interjected. _"We're familiar."_

"But you're ghosts," she reminded him. "Now shut up."

"You okay?" Blair asked. She flattened her ears and sat back, allowing Maka to get up and dust herself off. "Why're you talking to thin air, Maka?"

Maka looked up, surprised. "Thin air? But- oh." She flushed bright red. "Um... Soul and the others... are ghosts, and I can see them."

"Really~?" the cat witch squeaked. "Can I talk to them too?"

"They can hear you, you just can't hear- or see- them, er, and... hehe... only I can see- _BlackStar!"_ She'd tried to get it out without giggling, but it failed and she opted for yelling at the perpetrator. BlackStar had been doing a bad impersonation of Blair right behind the purple-haired woman, walking on all fours and grooming himself in an over-exaggerated fashion.

_"Say hi, wouldja?"_ Soul commented, starting to head downstairs again. Maka caught him by the collar and dragged him back, earning another puzzled glance from Blair. _"__Sheesh..."_

"Hey, I bet you could write it down!" Maka exclaimed. "Soul, say hi yourself."

Grumbling, the albino fetched a piece of paper and a pen (Blair was confused - why were they floating in midair? And- holy cat food, _writing?_), and wrote 'Hi' in messy handwriting.

The cat's eyes welled up with tears. "It IS Soul~!" Hugging Maka tightly, she started sobbing dramatically, then became completely normal again. "So what are you doing at Kid's old house?"

Kid wrestled the pen from Soul's grip and wrote, 'It's still my house,' in neat handwriting.

"Woah..." Blair breathed. "Hi Kid~!"

'Hello, Blair,' he wrote.

"I'm a weapon too, apparently," Maka informed the magical cat. "Now I'm training - I've pledged to become a Death Scythe in a year, so I have to get used to my weapon first. Wanna see? It's good practice."

"Sure~!" Blair squeed. Maka demonstrated, making her blades appear and disappear, slashing a few times. "That's so cool~!"

'But not as cool as-' BlackStar began to write, but Kid tackled him and wrested the pen from his fist.

'Sorry,' the reaper wrote. 'That was BlackStar, obviously. Gah- his handwriting...'

"Kid," Maka warned, snatching the pen and paper. "Sorry, Blair, but I have a lot of work to do. You can watch I suppose... or go see my Papa and tell him-" she grimaced "-that I say... hi? Urgh..."

"He'll be ecstatic!" she replied happily. "Kay~, bye! I'll come back at 'bout 8 or 9, kay~?"

"Okay!" Maka answered, pushing her out the door. "Nice seeing you again! Bye!" With that, she slammed the door and slumped against it, sighing through her nose. "Damn. That was certainly interesting."

_"Talk about boring!"_ BlackStar laughed. _"You barely talked at all. By the way, you should have told her more about the Amazing Holy BlackSt- owowowowowow!"_

"Shut **up**," she groaned, Maka Chopping him. "I'm going back to training."

* * *

She trained for the next week, getting more and more used to her weapon, and electing to stay in Gallows Mansion for convenience's sake. Blair dropped in almost every day, placated now that she knew Maka was alive, but spent most of her time at Chupa Cabra's. The gang continued to mess around, BlackStar and Patty often being sent into the city so that they didn't destroy Gallows Mansion and get refracted by Kid. The young reaper also explained more about dead items, refracting, and other ghostly physics with Maka. She'd spent some time in his massive library as well - just training wore her down. Other than that, it was a pleasant enough week. Day Eight since she had emerged from her book, Lord Death called her to the Death Room for her first solo mission...

... and thus began the hardest journey of her life.

* * *

**Sorry if that was a little short compared to what I normally write. Originally this was almost five thousand words, but I cut out over half of it because it made more sense to be in the next chapter, and added that paragraph at the end there. :D**

**Hope you liked! ^.^  
**

**Kat  
**


	6. The Seventh Day: Flight

**Well, hello again! I know, I'm a terrible person for leaving this this long. XP**

Riku Ashwood: Me too! :D And ... good luck? XD  
kuromaychan: Why, thank chu much! ^.^ And yes ma'am/sir! *salutes*  
Vampireninja101: Yay, thanks! Glad you likey! :D  
AmaixRodo96: 'Tis very sad. T^T Be warned, there will be more emotional breakdowns. ;P Thanks for reviewing!  
aprildragonfire16: Technically speaking, Crona IS a ghost, Maka just can't see him. He probably won't appear in this story because I originally wanted to have it revolve around the main seven; the six that are dead and the one that is not, and how they cope with that and such. ;)  
Thespurgin: Actually, no. The ghosts are going to be bystanders, for the most part - maybe dragging Maka out of the way of a barely missed attack, holding a Kishin egg still for just a second so she can get back up, 'levitating' her for jokes and sometimes battle leverage, etc. But they will not be resonating. Sorry! Thanks for reviewing, though!  
lmak1299: Sigh. Again, Crona. Is. Dead. Yes, he is a ghost. No, he will probably not appear in this story. (Sorry. I'm a little tired. Thanks for reviewing!)  
Dummy Perception: Wow... ^^ Thank you! :D *blush* I know, my writing is weird. It differs depending on the day. If I try to write a depressing one-shot on a sunny, happy day, when everything seems awesome and I'm listening to lively music, it SUCKS. If it's the middle of the night and I'm kind of tired, but have been sobbing over other people's depressing fanfics, then it's super easy and I like to think I do a good job. XD That's just my insanity/weirdness. Glad you like it, and thank you!

**Thanks to Riku Ashwood, soulXmaka9111, Thespurgin, theotakuprincessofgotham, and The Illusionist's Wings04 for favoriting/alerting! :D You guys are awesome!**

**This is a reeaaalllyyy short intermission to kick-start my inspiration again. Ugh~**

* * *

The Slumber of Ghosts  
Chapter Six

* * *

"Hello there, Maka~! How's it- going...?" Lord Death trailed off as he gazed in shock at the scene before him, having just popped out of the mirror in the living room of Gallows Mansion, to come upon the gang's normal morning routine.

Before him was a tangled mess of flailing fists and arms, looking especially strange because most of them were ghosts, leaving Maka looking like she was punching and kicking at thin air - sort of. She was in the middle of strangling BlackStar with one hand, Chopping Soul, and cheering Patty on as the cackling blonde descended on the screaming blue-haired assassin before her. Tsubaki was standing by, trying desperately to get them to seperate, while Liz yelled encouragement to her sister from her seat on the bar counter connecting to the kitchen. Kid was holding one of BlackStar's arms, keeping the ghost steady, amusement written all over the reaper's face.

"What's going on here?" Lord Death inquired, suppressing his own laughs.

"I'm- going- to- kill- you!" Maka panted, her eyes slightly crazed as she squeezed harder on BlackStar's throat.

The assassin spluttered a little and choked, _"I'm already- ack! Dead!"_

"Don't care!" the blonde all but shrieked. "I'LL GET KID TO REFRACT YOU! STOP WAKING ME UP SO EARLY, YOU LITTLE BAS-"

"Excuse me, Maka?" Lord Death interrupted. "I have your tickets. For the mission. You're leaving today, you know?"

_"Aww, ruining our fun~?"_ Patty pouted.

Maka stood up and brushed herself off, glaring down at her pajamas. "Right. I'll get changed..." She took the pro-offered tickets. "Thanks. I'll be right back." She ran upstairs, through some twisting hallways and down a corridor to her room while in Gallows Mansion. There, she threw on her new uniform - blue short shorts, for practicality, a white short-sleeved Japanese sailor shirt with the Shibusen logo on the necktie, her hair in her same old twin pigtails, and tall boots resembling the ones she used to wear - pre-book curse. Racing back to the group, she snatched the tickets, saluted, tossed a "Thank you!" over her shoulder, bolted the door behind her, and took off running down the street towards the small airport at the base of the City.

_"Excited, are we?"_ Kid commented, gliding and keeping even with her pace, barely visible in the sun.

She grinned at him. "Of course. It's my first mission as a solo weapon! I'm this much closer to being a Death Scythe now!"

_"You'll never be as great as the Amazing Holy BlackStar!"_ BlackStar boasted, puffing out his see-through chest. _"Beat that."_

Patty giggled, floating in circles around the assassin. _"I bet I can."_ He gulped and drew back from the cackling blonde weapon, whimpering something that sounded like 'Don'thurtme.'

Maka rolled her eyes and continued running, skidding to a stop in the airport doors, racing up and down the hallways with her suitcase rattling behind her. After a while of searching, Kid managed to spot the right gate (it was tucked away in a tiny corner. Seriously?) and she hurried on, stowing her bag and looking around appreciatively at the First Class seats. She'd gotten a tiny compartment for herself- Lord Death's quick thinking for the fact that even though Maka may be the only human able to see them, trying to squeeze six ghosts into one seat was going to be annoying for everyone. Hence the private room.

The plane ride was uneventful, and Maka disembarked without any problems.

It was once she was on solid ground once more that the problems started.

* * *

**See, super short. I'm sorry. *dies***

**_Kat_  
**


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